Plate joinery permits accurate and secure attachment of workpieces connected at a joint. Typical plate joinery requires a device for making a plunge cut or kerf in a joint surface designed for receipt of a plate (also called a biscuit, wafer, or spline) of wood or other material. Oppositely disposed grooves are cut into each piece of wood to be joined. Then glue and a plate is placed within each groove, and the plates are allowed to expand from application of the glue. The expansion of the glued biscuit in the opposing cuts provides an accurate, strong woodworking joint. Accordingly, plate joinery provides a strong, simple, and relatively long lasting joint for use in the field of woodworking.
Known plate joiner devices are generally comprised of a housing, a motor unit and a rotating blade section. A portion of the housing contacts a joint surface and the rotating blade section is then operably moved toward and engages a portion of the joint surface at the location of the desired cut. The rotating blade then cuts into the joint surface and is retracted. A particular advantage of plate joinery over other joint forming methods is the ease of use, aesthetic result, and overall efficiency.
However, all prior art plate joiner devices operate at a very high decibel sound level which is due primarily from innerlocking gear drives or similar mechanisms between the output of the plate joiner motor and the drive shaft of the cutter. Such innerlocking gear drives or similar mechanisms also generate a great deal of heat, which typically cause user discomfort and shortened tool life. Accordingly, there has been a need for a plate joiner operating at substantially reduced noise levels and at cooler temperature levels resulting in greater user environmental comfort and longer tool life.